WI: Cleopatra Married Lepidus

WI: Cleopatra Married Lepidus

In the fall of 41 BC, Cleopatra instead of going to meet Antony at Tarsus decides to head west to entreat with Triumvir Lepidus. Lepidus soon after divorces his wife and marries the Egyptian Queen. Lepidus now joins his North Africa territories with that of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt. What would be the results of this union? How would Octavian, Antony and Sex. Pompey react?

Would this help Lepidus further his claims to territory? What if Cleoptra's conflict with Judea and her claims to Herod's territory? Would this get Lepidus and Cleopatra defeated even faster in this timeline? What of Antony and Octavian? Do you think they would still eventually go to war?
"He asserted that Sicily should be absorbed into his sphere of influence. After negotiation, he suggested an alternative: Octavian could have Sicily and Africa, if he agreed to give Lepidus back his old territories in Spain and Gaul, which should legally have been his according to the Lex Titia."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Aemilius_Lepidus_(triumvir)

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Bad idea on Cleopatra's part her East is surrounded by Antony's Vassals and she is Antony's client Pharaoh herself bad idea to marry a rival of your overlord.
 
Probably you need a different partition of the Roman world after Philippi, maybe Lepidus participation to the battle, so maybe a slightly earlier POD. After Philippi Anthony was the master of the East (and if I remember correctly even of Gaul before Octavian took control of it). Octavian would never give away Gaul and Spain, and despite Lepidus controlling the granary of Rome he can't really offer much else to Cleopatra. Surely they would control the supply of grain in the Mediterranean but they wouldn't be able to face the combined military power of Octavian and Anthony, once they realize that they could quickly crush them.
 
Why was Lepidus included in the Triumverate in the first place? Was it so they could call it a Triumverate?

He contributed seven legions to the war against Brutus-Cassius I suppose that was enough to get him included. I think you need that third wheel to balance out the situation. When both Crassus and Lepidus were gone it wasn't long before the remaining two members decided to fight it out.
 
Why was Lepidus included in the Triumverate in the first place? Was it so they could call it a Triumverate?

Lepidus wasn't the pushover that hindsight makes him out to be. He was Caesar's successor as the proconsul of Transalpine Gaul, and thus controlled his fair share of legionaries. Of course, we now know that Octavian would push him aside before the final showdown with Antony, but at the time the 2nd Triumvirate was created, Octavian was only in his early 20s (waaaay too young for a political/military career according to Roman tradition), so it wasn't self-evident that he would eventually become the dominant member of the triumvirate. Plus, Lepidus was a major supporter of Caesar before his assassination, even sharing in a consulship with Caesar in 46 BCE, so he had his fair share of supporters in the senate. Long story short: Lepidus was influential and Octavian and Antony needed allies in the senate, as they were both marginalized by Cicero (who was the princeps senatus at that time).
 
I'd say Cleopatra only married Antony because he was the preeminent authority in the East. The only way for Lepidus to marry Cleopatra would be for Lepidus to command the East. However, Lepidus also had greater ties to the senate in Rome, so it's likely that he would see himself as more loyal to the "Roman" identity, whereas Antony had almost no connections or strong allies in Rome (which is a big reason why he lost IOTL). So I could easily see an alliance between Cleopatra and Lepidus if Lepidus controlled the East, but I doubt they would get married. However, with Lepidus in the East, what of the other triumvirs? I'd say this outcome is only possible if one of the other triumvirs died before the partition of the Republic IOTL, such as Octavian or Antony dying at Mutina
 
Mark Antony was surely the better choice as ally for Cleopatra but if you put Cyrenaica under the control of Lepidus (instead of giving it to Antony as OTL) he can become a viable ally for Cleopatra if Antony is not interested
 
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